MONODZUKURI

Tightly Knit Oriental Carpet Mills

Yamanobe-machi in Yamagata Prefecture. From this town with a population of little more 1,500 people, high-class dantsu rugs are exported around the world. Their soft touch and vibrant designs captivate onlookers and bring tranquility to their users. Miho Yanagisawa introduces the monodzukuri craftsmanship of Oriental Carpet Mills Co., Ltd., which engages in their manufacture.

Oriental Carpet Mills Co., Ltd., located in Yamanobe-machi in Yamagata Prefecture, manufactures and sells high-quality dantsu rugs. Its rugs feature in state-level facilities such as the embassies of various countries and the National Theatre of Japan, not to mention the Imperial Palace and Japan’s State Guest Houses. The company has also fulfilled overseas orders from places such as the Vatican Palace and Roosevelt Memorial Hall in the United States.

The company’s history dates back to before the war in 1935, when farming villages in Yamagata had been battered by poor harvests due to cold weather damage. A group of residents established a company to support the local industry of Yamanobe, which was known for its textiles.

Seeking to manufacture high-class dantsu rugs rather than products for widespread use, seven craftsmen were brought over from the leading production region in China. In just over two years they learned the technology of hand-woven dantsu rugs.

While the factory became a temporary munitions plant during the Second World War, the company was re-established under its current name in 1946 and resumed the production of dantsu rugs, beginning exports to the United States in 1948. While sales started out slowly due to the company’s low level of recognition in its early days, The supply of a dantsu rug for the Papal Audience Chamber at the Vatican Palace in 1964 triggered a surge in orders from overseas.


Dantsu rugs only achieve high-quality status after meeting all three key conditions of good raw materials, good dyeing and good weaving. Around 1950, a lustering method that used a chemical solution for mercerization was established as a finishing treatment. The surface of the woven dantsu rugs was finished into a flat smoothness, and finally soaked in the mercerization solution and polished with brushing. It is this process that produces the rugs’ characteristic smooth and springy feel, their gloss and their texture. While the aim of using mercerization had been for protection from insects and antibacterial coating, since it resulted in an improved feel, after a process of trial and error the company established it as a proprietary processing method.

With its vivid color and luster, the dantsu rug that covers the reception room of the company’s head office was woven around seventy years ago, they say. The meticulous finish of resilient sheep’s wool, unfading dyes and firm, thick weaving seem unaffected by the weathering of time.

“If, as in Europe and the United States, rugs were only used when walked upon in shoes, dantsu rugs with such a feel would not be necessary. In Japan, however, the custom is to take off one’s shoes and relax upon tatami mats. It could be said that dantsu rugs of this quality came about because they were produced on the assumption that they would come into contact with bare skin,” says Hiroaki Watanabe, president of Oriental Carpet Mills.


A brand does not grow by simply continuing to make the same products. From 2006, Oriental Carpet Mills began the manufacturing of dantsu rugs based on designs produced in collaboration with industrial designer Kiyoyuki Okuyama, a Yamagata native who has designed for Ferrari. The products were also put on display at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile, an international furniture fair held in Milan.

“At first, there was a backlash, with comments like ‘what on earth is this design?’ coming from the ranks of the craftsmen, but after actually making the designs, it was we who ended up being surprised by the excellence in design sense. Collaborations with prominent figures almost always generate a lot of buzz, but in practice, this often has trouble translating into sales.

“However, the works we produced with Okuyama not only generated publicity but also led to many sales. I believe this is because Okuyama developed the design after giving proper consideration to the history of Oriental Carpet Mills. High-quality goods can be passed down successively from parent to child—an eco-friendly product that fits with modern times, so to speak. Good things are used for a long time, and that’s the sort of custom we would like to see spread further. By extension, I think this would lead people to look at things with richer spirituality.”

Company name:	Oriental Carpet Mills, Co., Ltd.
Established:	June 17, 1946 (factory operation started in 1935)
President:	Hiroaki Watanabe
Business:	Manufacturing and sales of fine-art and industrial-art dantsu rugs for offices and hotels, entrances and interiors of individual residences, wall hangings and halls.
Head office address:	21, Oaza-yamanobe, Yamanobe-machi, Higashi-Murayama-gun, Yamagata Prefecture, 990-0301, Japan
Website:	http://www.oriental-carpet.jp/e/index.html

Miho Yanagisawa is a freelance writer.